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How to wash a car. 2 bucket Method

By Feroze Kistan of Angelart

Properly washing a car is a skill, and like all skills can be learnt. In the current economic climate we keeping our cars longer before selling so it pays to keep its appearance in tip top condition, it also adds to the resale value later.
Have you ever noticed how the paintwork looks dull after a period of time, its normal caused by the microscopic swirls induced by automatic car washes and bad technique hand- washing. While this is not the only 2 bucket method, it's the one I use and its work pretty well thus far. The primary objective is to gently lift off the dirt without scrubbing it into the clear coat, so avoid using scrubbing pads, steel wool or hard brushes. Avoid using dish washing liquid as car wash, these products were designed to dissolve grease, fat and wax...from your dishes, you need that layer of wax on your car to protect it.

I have no affiliation to any of the companies mentioned here.

What you'll need.
1) Garden hose with spray nozzle or a pressure washer with a foam gun.
2) Sheep skin wash mitts
3) Good car wash shampoo (I use a brand called SmartWax, partially because of the smell and mostly because it's the only environmentally friendly one I could find)
4) 2 x 20L / 5 Gallon buckets with grit guards (Don't use these buckets for anything else, especially food preparation ) The grit guards keep the dirt at the bottom of the bucket and clean water at the top)
5) Microfiber cloths, various sizes, reserve one for your tires and several for the glass.

Avoid the Sun
Besides the risk of sun stroke the sun keeps the body to hot and the water dries off to fast causing streaks and water marks

Buckets
Fill both buckets 2/3's with plain water, add shampoo to one bucket as per directions. Let your wash mitts soak in the shampoo bucket to soften.

Pre-wash
Spray wash all your wheel wells and tires with the hose or washer first, then rinse the car off from the roof downwards, this allows the dirt to flow off. Be careful of pointing the pressure washer at a 90 deg angle or holding it too close, you will take the paint off. (Ask me how I know)

The Wash (This is the core of the method)
Dunk your mitt and let it glide over the body, DO NOT SCRUB, let the chemicals do the work. Start with the roof, and bonnet (The dirtiest parts) the boot, and the sides. After every swipe or two rinse the mitt in the clean water thoroughly and dip it back in the shampoo before cleaning another area. Sheep Skin mitts hold the dirt in the mitt and swirls are caused when you scrub the dirt into the clear coat.

Rinse
Rinse thoroughly with clean water. SmartWax contains Carnauba Wax , probably the hardest natural wax known to man, a layer of wax remains on the car after every wash. Most good car waxes contain the wax. It's a food grade wax and is also use to coat tablets to make it easy to swallow .
I've personally seen this and can't understand why people do this, NEVER EMPTY THE SHAMPOO BUCKET OVER YOUR CAR AFTER WASHING IT BECAUSE YOU WANNA SAVE THE SOAP, you've just thrown all the dirt back.
It's only necessary to wax the car every 3 - 6 months depending on which brand you use, the area you live in, the type of pollution you encounter etc.

Drying.
Don't use your old t-shirts or nappies to dry, rather donate those old clothes to charity and invest in proper waffle weave microfiber cloths. (Don't let you wife find these clothes as you can clean anything with it, it will shine your mirrors and chrome taps with only water and you'll never get them back) Slide the Microfibre clothes over the car, the cloths will absorb the water without taking off the wax. DO NOT SCRUB OR APPLY PRESSURE. The cloths wash well by hand or machine, no not add fabric softener or bleach as this destroys Microfibre.

Detailing
You might find some tree sap or bugs that have embed itself into the surface, use a chemical cleaner to dissolve it and wipe the mess off. Never scrub bird poop off, birds eat stones to help them digest, the stones come out with the poo and you will scrub the stones into your paintwork. Always rinse seagull poo off immediately, due to the chemical makeup it's quite capable of eating through your paintwork.

I'll be posting interior cleaning and how to clay your car next.

I run a Graphic, Website and Photographic Studio in Johannesburg, South Africa since 1994.

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

Angelart Graphic Studio
Graphic Website Design & Photograhpy
www.angelart.co.za

Great Intel. I gave it 5 stars because I learned quite a few things from it. Now I know why my new car has fine scratches in its clear coat. I'll get rid of my soft bristle brush and get some sheepskin wash mitts. Thanks.

Wow, thanks for your generous comments, I hope the rest of the articles will be as impressive. Were you really using a brush for the outside? If you wanted to safely dust your car try the "california car duster".

Feroze

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